


Apogee

by LonelyTuatara



Category: Brewdening Love
Genre: Gen, M/M, Space AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-07 02:48:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8780215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LonelyTuatara/pseuds/LonelyTuatara
Summary: During a routine spacewalk, a freak accident detaches an astronaut from the Eos space station. His crew has six hours to get him back - or die trying.





	1. Prologue

July 16, 2030: AstroNewsDaily

Two days ago, NASA successfully launched a team of three astronauts to the Eos Space Station, which they will activate and occupy for up to three years. Eos is NASA’s next step on the path to Mars - the station is designed to be self-sufficient for the three-year experiment, using technology that NASA hopes to implement on future Mars missions.

The crew of the Eos will be the first test subjects to live in space for more than two years at a time. To prevent long-term health issues, part of the station is designed to spin at such a rate that centrifugal force will mimic the effects of gravity. This will help prevent bone and muscular atrophy, as well as other health issues encountered on previous ISS missions.  
  
The station also has the latest anti-radiation and anti-meteorite shielding and a bank of highly efficient solar panels. In the unlikely event of an accident, the astronauts can use one of several escape pods to return to Earth.

While the astronauts will be physically much more secure than previous space station occupants, the three-year stay may take a psychological toll. NASA officials selected this three-person team from hundreds of astronaut candidates, taking into consideration the personalities of the applicants as well as their skillsets and qualifications.

Five groups of three were considered out of the initial pool of applicants; these groups were put through a gauntlet of tests, simulations, and team-building survival exercises, and the team of Tamura, Harnell and Smith rose to the top of the list.

Engineer Charmaine “Charlie” Tamura and pilot Brian Harnell both have prior experience as astronauts – Tamura flew aboard the ISS twice, while Harnell was involved with testing the Orion deep-space exploration module when NASA tested it in low-Earth orbit. Dr. Hugo Smith, on the other hand, is visiting space for the first time.

Even if the mission doesn't end up breaking the record for time spent in space, it's already made NASA history, as Brian Harnell is the space agency's first openly gay astronaut. Harnell's sexual orientation was not intentionally hidden from the public during his time on the Orion mission, but it hadn't come up in interviews, as the Orion tests were not a high-profile operation.

No matter how long the first Eos mission lasts, it's an exciting first step into longer-term space travel. Follow AstroNewsDaily for updates as the story develops.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: this is in the Brian Hahnel tag but I started using Harnell outta habit bc of edenverse WHOOPS. oh well


	2. Ignition

Charlie’s voice cut in over the radio. “Yeah, I know. You never really get used to it.”

It took Hugo a minute to find his voice again. “It’s just… it’s completely different from inside the station.”

“Probably because you can’t trick yourself into thinking it’s not real. Looking through a window, you can think it’s just an image on a screen or something.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

Charlie floated back from the other side of the station, following the cord that connected them together in case one of their tethers came loose - unlikely, but possible. “The camera’s all set up. Did you check the wiring over here?”

With a jolt, Hugo realized he hadn't. “Shoot, sorry, guess I got distracted by the view.”

“It happens. Just try to keep hold of that wrench, okay? I lost a screwdriver on my first spacewalk and Mission Control wasn't too happy.”

“Don't start crying, either. The tears won't float away on their own and it'll really screw up your vision.” That was Brian, the only crew member of the Eos still inside the station. “S’what happened to me, I teared up and ended up having to finish replacing a solar panel while half-blind.”

Hugo smiled, despite himself. “Really? You don’t seem like much of a crier.”

“Hey, the majesty of space can do that to a guy."

The CAPCOM chose that moment to remind them all that the live stream of the spacewalk was about to start and could they /please/ act like professionals. Charlie and Hugo set to work repairing one of the solar panel arrays, while Brian made sure that the station’s computers didn’t accidentally steer them into anything else orbiting the planet.

Everything went smoothly, and Hugo followed Charlie back through the airlock, doing his best to shed the clunky spacesuit as soon as he was sure the room was sealed. By the time Brian poked his head through the inner hatch to congratulate them, he’d managed to wriggle his way out of the outer components.

Brian grinned widely as he and Charlie high-fived. “Not bad for our first EVA as a team, huh?”

“Not bad at all,” she replied, smiling back.

He then turned to Hugo, who’d somehow managed to get his shoulders tangled in the ventilation system worn underneath the suit itself. “Need some help over there?”

“Uh… sure.”

Brian kicked off from the wall closest to Charlie, colliding with the wall next to Hugo. “These suits’re a nightmare to take off, especially in microgravity. All those tubes and things.”

“Mm-hm.” Hugo suddenly felt jittery, as if he’d had one too many cups of coffee. He could feel Brian’s hands on his back.

And then, suddenly, he was free of the suit. “Uh, thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” Another one of those enormous grins.

Hugo felt the need to change the subject, very quickly. “All right, we've got an hour before physicals, so everyone find something important but non-strenuous to do, okay?” He really wished his voice hadn't wavered like that.

Harnell turned to him. “You doing okay? You sound pretty worn out.”

“I'm fine, I just need to rest a while after that spacewalk. It, uh, took more out of me than I thought.”

“Okay, well, just let us know if you're not feeling well. Don't want our only doctor being outta commission if something happens.” He patted Hugo's shoulder.

Hugo laughed nervously. “Yeah. I will. I'm going to go check up on some of the biomedical experiments now.”

“See you in an hour!”

Hugo made his way down to the biomedical research section of the station, then began checking up on the cell cultures. As he worked his way through the boxes of samples, he felt annoyed at himself - he really wasn’t all that tired. There was just something about Harnell that made him feel strange.

He’d hoped that, after the amount of time they’d spent together, he would be more comfortable with his crewmate. Perhaps their shared history had something to do with it. They’d been roommates in college for a year, but certain events that Hugo wasn’t willing to think about had made their relationship rocky, and they’d lost touch until they and Charlie ended up on the same team during astronaut training. After that, the three of them had spent five years training together for the Eos mission - after that length of time, he should have felt less awkward talking to him.

It wasn’t that he was homophobic, was it? He would be sorely disappointed in himself if that was the reason his heart beat faster and his hands got shakier around Brian lately, but he’d only noticed the problem after Brian let slip in an interview that he was gay, so it looked like that might be the case.

Well, whatever the problem was, dwelling on it was a waste of time. The only thing to do was to try and act normal around Harnell, and try not to let his feelings interfere with the mission.

 

The medical bay was one of the few rooms attached to the centrifugal part of the station, meaning that it had a simulation of gravity. In the case of an emergency, this meant that blood or any other bodily fluids wouldn’t cause additional issues by floating all over the place. It also made things more convenient for routine testing - tools could simply be set down on trays instead of needing to be velcroed to them, and the risk of samples floating away and ending up in someone’s bunk unexpectedly was greatly reduced.

“Okay, blood pressure and breathing  look normal. Any lightheadedness?”

“Nah, I'm good.”

“Right, blood sample time.”

Hugo did his best to get his own breathing and blood pressure back to normal. He was a doctor, damn it, he should be able to conduct a simple medical exam without losing his nerve. And yet here he was, his breath catching every time his fingers brushed Brian’s - Harnell’s - skin.

It had been easier to get along during the training exercises. Sure, getting dropped in the Siberian wilderness for two weeks with minimal supplies was stressful, but there’d been plenty to keep their minds off things. Here, they were stuck together in the same room, alone, with nothing to diffuse the tension between them.

An awkward silence fell as Hugo concentrated on the mechanical steps of the exams, hoping to hide his anxiety. He’d just finished the eye exam when Harnell cleared his throat and said “You seem kinda jumpy today, Dr. Smith.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Come on, I can tell something’s bothering you.” Harnell shifted on the table to face him. “Is this about what happened back in college?”

“We don’t... We don’t need to talk about that.:” Hugo picked up his clipboard, needing something to look at.

“I feel like we should, though. We’re gonna be here together for three years, it’s gonna be real awkward if we keep dancing around the issue like this.”

“I would rather not talk about it right now,” Hugo said, very evenly. He noticed that the knuckles of the hand holding the clipboard were turning white.

After a moment, Harnell sighed. “Fine, I won’t push. But it’s not gonna be good for the mission if we avoid talking about it.”

“Sometime. But not now.”

“Okay.” He paused a moment. “So, uh, the physical’s over, right?”

“Oh. Yeah, you can leave.” He’d almost forgotten why they were there to begin with.

 

“Hey, Hugo, it’s your turn on the video chat.”

Hugo jumped up from the cell culture he was examining. “Thanks for the heads up, Charlie.” He made his way to the module where they’d placed the webcam. “Hey, Elaine!”

His ex-wife waved at him from several thousand miles away. “Hi, Hugo. I'm sorry, Joan couldn’t make it today.”

Hugo deflated a bit. “Oh… right, it’s the end of the semester, she probably has exams coming up.”

“Yeah. She’s coming home next week for winter break, so I’ll make sure you get to see her then.”

“Thanks, Elaine, I appreciate that.” The two of them were on decent terms after their divorce six years ago - having Joan to take care of had helped with that. They’d wanted their daughter to have as stable of a family life as possible, even if she was splitting her time between two homes, and luckily Hugo and Elaine made better friends than romantic partners. “How’s the library doing? I heard you finally got funding for that new wing.”

“It’s great! We just started--”

Suddenly, an impact rocked the space station. The lights flickered, and the video feed went out.

A few seconds later Charlie sped into the communications room, aiming for the radio. “Houston, something hit us. Looks like it was near the solar panels.”

Brian’s voice came in from the control module. “We're losing pressure in the kitchen, I'm sealing that module off now.”

Losing pressure - that meant a breach in the hull.

A voice crackled through the radio. “Estimated size of the hole?”

“Judging by the rate of pressure loss? Small, definitely small enough to patch up easy. The air’s leaking out with enough force to make our flight path all wonky, though.”

“Right. Harnell, Smith, I’m gonna need you two to go out on a spacewalk and investigate, hopefully patch it up. Tamura, keep an eye on the flight path, make sure the station stays clear of any satellites.”

“Roger.”

They’d run through sims like this countless times in training, so no one was panicking. There was a problem, and the only thing to do was fix it.

Hugo and Brian made their way to the outside of the station, moving as quickly as their bulky spacesuits allowed. Brian located the breach in the hull first - it was small enough that the patch kit they’d brought out with them could handle it.

It was a one-person job, really. Hugo was there mostly as backup in case Brian drifted free and needed to be recovered, so he settled in near where his tether was attached. He took the opportunity to gaze at the Earth again - Charlie had been right, the sheer size of it all still stunned him.

Brian had just finished applying the patch when, suddenly, the station rocked violently. Hugo felt his head hit the visor of his helmet, and suddenly everything went black.

 

Brian gripped the handhold for dear life, doing his best not to swear over the radio. “What was that?”

Charlie’s voice had an uncharacteristic note of worry. “Something hit us. Doesn’t look like structural damage, but it’s gonna take a while to correct our course. Hold on tight out there.”

“You got it.” The impact had sent them spinning - he wasn’t planning on letting go and getting thrown off the station. “Dr. Smith, how’re you doing?... Dr. Smith?”

Brian turned his head to see as much as he could with the helmet limiting his peripheral vision. He was relieved to scatch a glimpse of Hugo dangling on his tether, still attached to the ship. “Dr. Smith’s not responding, think he got knocked out. Still attached though.”

“Right. I’m gonna try and stop the spinning, you reel him in when you can get--”

Another impact rocked the station. When Brian looked up, Hugo Smith was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gonna be a bit of a break until the next chapter bc im doing a study abroad program for the next month!


End file.
